


Aching Heart

by Laratjuhh



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:59:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5870578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laratjuhh/pseuds/Laratjuhh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is so in love he doesn't know much else anymore. If only someone noticed...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aching Heart

**Author's Note:**

> So, this has everything to do with the AMA performance of Night Changes in 2014.  
> Just a little drabble to occupy my time. Enjoy. Xxx

Harry didn't know when it happened. He didn't know why either, but it had. He had fallen in love with Louis somewhere along their way to stardom. He hadn't stopped to wonder about it, but it was there and it was a very persistent feeling. He couldn't look away from Louis too long, he couldn't stop thinking about him, and the nerves and happiness coursing through him when Louis was near got bigger and bigger everyday.

It was cold in January, the band was four years old and Harry couldn't believe he'd let it get this far without talking about his feelings to anyone besides his mum. He didn't really know how to go about it, either. This was just his life. He'd watch Louis from afar, sometimes he'd have him close but Louis would always flutter away again, and Harry wouldn't stop him. He couldn't. Louis in action was too beautiful a sight and he'd never want to keep him from that.

Besides, Louis had never dated anyone in their time together, so it wasn't like it was really painful to see him. He'd hooked up with guys a few times, nights that left Harry crying silently in his bed and wishing, hoping, praying that it would be a one time thing and Louis wouldn't let them stay and fall in love with them. Louis' hook-ups had gotten less and less frequent as their schedule grew more and more gruelling. Harry didn't mind that one bit.

Harry knew he wore his heart on his sleeve, though, and that he had become gradually less subtle about his love for Louis. They had been friends for so long that no one really noticed that he was very affectionate with Louis. They were all very handsy and cuddly with each other, and at this point, Harry would take any attention from Louis he could get. 

Today they had a pre-taped appearance on a talk show, where they'd sing a few songs off their new album. It was one of those days that Louis just looked like he was glowing, like he was made of light, and Harry hadn't been able to stop staring at him all day. It was actually odd that nobody had made a remark about it. 

They sang their songs well. There was just one slight problem: Harry hadn't stopped looking at Louis during the performance either. Harry personally wasn't too worried, but his team seemed to think something was wrong. There was, however, not enough time to redo the whole thing, so they left it at that and hoped it would go unnoticed.

That night Louis came up to Harry's hotel room and curled into his side on the bed. Harry had been watching tv, but he welcomed the lovely distraction. The mix of calm and nerves that Louis ignited in him had long ceased to amaze him.

“What's up?”

“Nothing. Just need a little attention, 's all,” Louis said.

“Okay, then. Wanna cuddle?”

“Sure.” 

Harry lay down to snuggle up with Louis. He tried not to let it get to him that Louis was this close to him, since he snuggled a lot with Niall, Zayn and Liam too. He had to remind himself every five minutes, though.

“So what did you think of our performance today?”

“Was meh.”

“Why?”

Louis scrunched up his nose. Harry wanted to kiss it badly.

“I was shit, mate. Was wobbly.”

“I think you were brilliant, Louis,” Harry said softly. “I love your voice.” ' _And a hell of a lot more about you_ ', he thought. He didn't say it.

“Thanks, Haz. You're too nice.”

Harry giggled. He was pretty sure he wasn't, but he didn't want to argue with Louis when he was so warm and soft beside him.

Louis stayed for about an hour, before he left to go to sleep in his own room. Louis never stayed overnight, never fell asleep next to him. Harry didn't know why that was, but he refused to dwell on it.

The next day was when it all started. Their appearance aired on tv and it was like the whole world had just woken up. First his bandmates came to talk to him, one by one, concerned looks on their faces. Zayn straight up asked him if he was in love with Louis. Harry nodded reluctantly and Zayn left quickly after promising not to tell. Then there was Liam, trying to be diplomatic about it. 

“So, mate, I noticed you were, uhm, gazing in one particular direction yesterday. Mind the pun,” he said carefully.

Harry laughed, but only because of the joke. “Does it matter?”

“I was just wondering uhm, why that was,” Liam asked, trying to seem casual about it. Harry didn't buy it.

“Well, can you draw the conclusion? Zayn could.”

“I really don't understand, Harry. Is something going on between you two? Do we need to be worried?”

Harry frowned. “Worried? What for?”

“I don't know...” Liam looked truly uncomfortable. “I don't want you to fight or anything like that...”

“I'm a lover, not a fighter, Liam. Yes, I love him. No, he doesn't know. Let's keep it that way.”

“Don't you think he will know after watching your painful broken-hearted puppy-dog look directed at him for the duration of _three_ songs?”

“Nah.”

“Harry. Be reasonable.”

“I really don't, Liam! He's never noticed in four years! Ten televised minutes won't make the difference!”

Liam sighed. “Oh all right then. Sorry I asked, you clearly don't want to talk about it.”

“Well… I don't really mind talking about it. I think. I just never have before.”

“You mean no one knows?”

“Of course not. I thought if anyone had the right to know it would be him, but I never really got the courage to tell him. I'm not about to now.”

“Just… I do want you to be happy, Harry.”

“I'll be fine, really. Thank you.”

With another doubtful look, Liam left. Ten minutes later, Niall came barging in. It was honestly like the boys had coordinated it. Niall didn't ask anything, but just attacked Harry and enveloped him in a warm and comforting hug. 

“He's cute, ay? This is so great!”

Harry laughed. “Thanks, Ni. Yeah, he's cute. Don't tell him I said that.”

Niall giggled. “Don't worry, mate. So, what are you gonna do about it?”

“Nothing.”

“What'd'ya mean, nothing? Have you seen the way you looked at him?” he asked incredulously.

“I'm pretty sure I know how I look at him, thanks. Still not gonna tell him. Don't want to ruin our friendship.”

“Oh, fucking idiot. You never know if you don't try! Go get your man!”

“I'll think about it, okay? But only because you're so happy about this.”

“Yes! Using my powers for the greater good!”

“And what are those powers, then?” Harry asked laughing.

“Being cute and happy and enthusiastic!”

“Oh, those are special powers, huh?”

“Yeah!”

Harry started tickling Niall, until someone came knocking to ask what the noise was about. Louis came in, and Harry got off of Niall quicker than he'd ever moved. This was not the time to give Louis wrong impressions.

“Hi, Lou,” he said a lot softer than he intended.

“Hi. What're you doing?”

“Just a tickle-fight. Want to join in?” Niall asked. “If he has someone else to torment I can leave.”

Louis smiled. “No, thanks. Please, do go on.”

Harry laughed but shook his head. “You ruined the mood. No more tickling tonight.”

“Good, then I can go back to my song in peace. Was writing.”

“Oooh, what are you writing about? Can I hear it?” Harry asked, but Niall groaned and attacked him again. 

Louis frowned in amusement. “You're eager. I'll let you hear it when it's finished, like I usually do. But Liam's calling me, so I'm heading back now. Bye!”

“Bye,” Harry said, but Louis was gone already. 

Rehearsals that day were fine. It wasn't until late in the evening, when Harry was lying in bed scrolling through his twitter feed, that he thought of the performance again. He'd gotten a text from his mum, that said 'guess the cat's out of the bag'. Gemma had asked him about it as well, but Harry hadn't replied yet. 

Twitter was a mess. Harry didn't know why it had suddenly been so clear to so many people, especially since he'd been having these feelings for four years, but **#HarryLovesLouis** was trending topic and he suspected it had something to do with the talk show performance.

“He looks so pained. He's hurting, poor baby!”

“Aww he looks so in love! Do you think Louis knows?”

“I think Louis knows and rejected him. I can practically see the tears stream down his face.”

That was slightly exaggerated, Harry thought. He hadn't been about to cry at all. He had put a lot of emotion in the songs they sang but it had at no point ever been that dramatic. He still liked the tweet and waited for the fan to notice before unliking it.

Thing was, it did hurt. Loving Louis hurt in the best and the worst ways possible, and Harry didn't want to trade it for the world. He felt like his heart was bleeding all the time and there was nothing to stop it. He was so, so, so in love, he didn't even want to stop it.

Over the next few days, more and more fans noticed and started talking about it. Harry was slightly worried at first that Louis would catch wind of it and ask him about it, but he never did, so he gradually relaxed. Life went on, only now Harry would see fanart of him and Louis every now and then, or read little ficlets fans had written. They quickly turned into his guilty pleasure.

Harry didn't really change his behaviour towards Louis, and neither did Louis change his towards Harry. Weeks went on and Harry was sure that fans had asked Louis about it, but there was no response from him. Nothing.

One night in late February – they were in a different hotel for different purposes – Harry walked into Louis' room. He heard the water of the shower running so he decided to just wait for him and sat down on Louis' unmade bed. After a minute or so he lay down and pulled the sheets over him. Shit, they smelled like Louis. So did his pillow. Harry closed his eyes and enjoyed the smell, until he heard faint moaning. His eyes flew wide open and he listened very carefully. Then he heard it again. Louis was moaning in the shower, and Harry could only guess why. He sat up and got out of Louis' bed, not needing the extra stimulant. The sound of Louis getting off was more than enough to make his jeans uncomfortably tight.

“Fuck,” Harry muttered under his breath as he decided what to do. Should he wait there? Or run back to his own room? But he kind of really wanted to hear Louis finish… Was that selfish of him? Probably. He didn't care much, though. Harry palmed himself as Louis let out a string of whimpers that sounded like he was getting close. The only thing Harry could think of was touching Louis and being the one making him sound like that. Fucking Louis, and getting himself off as well. Louis' hands all over his body, gripping and kneading his flesh. Yeah, Harry was all kinds of fucked up.

When Louis came with a simple 'oh…' that died out, Harry almost stuck his own hand down his pants. He only barely resisted, knowing Louis would come out of the shower soon. He'd come here for a reason. What was that reason, again?

Oh, right. He'd wanted to talk to him about switching up a harmony in a new song they were working on. They'd start recording it in their make-shift studio the next day, and he really needed to know.

When Louis came out of his bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, he halted when he saw Harry and eyed him nervously. Harry suddenly realised that he was hard and very, very aroused. His cheeks were probably red, too.

“Hi…,” Louis said after a few moments.

“Hi,” Harry echoed.

“Is there anything… special… you came for?” Louis searched Harry's face, but Harry wasn't sure what he was looking to find.

“Uhm. The melody. Tomorrow. Singing. Wanna switch up?”

Louis stared at him blankly. “You're not making sense.”

Harry got up and took a step towards Louis. As Louis looked down and noticed Harry's little problem, he realised that that had been a bad idea. Louis' eyebrows flew up and he looked at Harry questioningly.

“Care to explain?”

“What?” Harry asked, feigning ignorance. 

“Why you're all turned-on?”

“I'd rather go on ignoring it if you don't mind,” Harry said.

Louis huffed out a laugh. “Have you been listening to me wank off?” 

Harry wasn't sure if he was angry or amused. “I… suppose…?”

“And, naturally, that gets you all worked up. I see how it is.” Louis walked away to get some clothes.

“Lou?”

“Yes, Harry?”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, you didn't really think I hadn't seen the theories about you being in love with me, did you?” Louis laughed. “Clever strategy. The fans eat it up, we may even have gained a few new ones through it. Would have been nice if you had talked to me about it before you started liking their tweets and drawings, but all in all it's quite funny. Though...” 

Harry frowned at him. Louis' voice had trembled.

“Though… you really didn't have to come in here with a stiffy and try to tell me it's because of me. That's a bit nasty, don't you think? You could have just let me in on the joke in a slighly less confronting way.”

“Lou,” Harry said, his voice relatively calm. “It's not a PR stunt.”

“Of course it is!” Louis sounded outright frantic now.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he opened them and walked towards Louis. “Louis. Look at me. Please.” Louis did, but he looked scared. “I actually am in love with you. Very much and I have been for a long time.”

Louis took a step closer. “You are?”

Harry nodded. He was so nervous that he felt like he was going to pass out if Louis didn't reply soon.

“So this...” Louis said, cupping Harry's crotch tentatively as he watched Harry's expression carefully, “actually is for me? Because of me?”

Harry could only stare at him with wide eyes. What was happening? With a slight press of his hips into Louis' hand he nodded again. 

“So what were you thinking about when you heard me touch myself?” Louis asked, eyes going dark.

Harry didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't about to stop it. “I uhm,” he croaked out, “I thought about you… uh… your mouth… on me.”

Louis' eyes grew remorseful. “Of course,” he said softly, as he lowered his gaze to Harry's lips. His expression soft and loving, he leaned in to peck Harry's lips. Harry reacted by chasing the press and kissing him for real, but stopped the kiss after a few moments of that. 

“Uhm. Lou. What is this?”

“I'm so sorry, Hazza. I should have told you sooner. I love you too.”

“You… you do?”

Louis nodded while a huge smile broke through on his face. “Yes. I can't believe you love me back. I didn't dare to believe the rumours.”

“Oh, Lou,” Harry said before kissing him again. They fell back on Louis' bed and kissed and talked for the rest of the evening. They got each other off eventually and they fell asleep curled into each other's arms. 

In the next few days, they worked out that they wanted to be a couple and told their friends and families. With their blessings, they started a life together.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! Xxx


End file.
